Tetradon
Tetradon was a former servant of the Brotherhood of Makuta and the former leader of the now-defunct Wraith Syndicate. He was notable for leading the Syndicate in a small-scale invasion of Powai Nui in search for several powerful artifacts, coming in conflict with the island's Toa Powai. History Early History Tetradon's history before becoming a servant of the Brotherhood of Makuta is currently unknown, as the history and background of the enigmatic Falqãta species, of which he is a member, is known to few. He joined the Brotherhood before Teridax seized power over the organization. When Teridax did so, Tetradon supported him and his vindictive, orderly, and forceful policies. This support was shared by an ostracized Makuta named Pretadix, with whom Tetradon came to grow a strong alliance. After a group of the Nynrah Ghosts sabotaged the artificial Bohrok the Brotherhood had commissioned them to build, Tetradon and Pretadix were both present at the subsequent invasion of Nynrah, tasked with ensuring that the multiple hired Dark Hunters killed the desired targets. The two most notably fought against Tesudin and Ringa, two Toa defending the island, who were in a romantic relationship. Tetradon killed Ringa, but spared Tesudin, knowing the guilt brought upon him from seeing his partner die would serve as a horrible enough fate for him. Betrayed by Teridax As soon as Teridax grew tired of the twos' desire to please him, he banished them to a random, barren island using a self-made Makuta Virus. Tetradon and Pretadix were shaken by this sudden act of betrayal and swore revenge on Teridax. Tetradon grew to despise the Brotherhood leader so greatly that he made an oath to himself to avoid tactics and methods that he felt were too similar to those Teridax employed, especially those related to torture, both physical and emotional. In Pretadix's case, Teridax's betrayal took a toll on his mental and emotional stability, and he became more irritable and was known to easily lose focus or forget various strings of information. To stop his outbursts of anger, Tetradon hesitantly began the practice of using his Xakar to enter him into a hallucinatory world called "Tragedy's Choir" which he found to be pleasant and relaxing. Deciding to take advantage of his ability to emotionally manipulate Pretadix, Tetradon began experimenting and running tests with a serum which would enhance the Makuta's telepathic abilities. Tetradon often relieved the Makuta of as much mental pain as he could due to his beliefs, causing the collection of data for further improvement of the serum to be rather inefficient. Because of this opposition between belief and efficiency, Tetradon became rather stressed during this time, something which caused his biologically flawed body to suffer from occasional spasm attacks. As soon as Pretadix was able to enter others' minds from long enough distances, Tetradon instructed him to enter into Tesudin's mind from miles away to manipulate his actions, using his thirst for revenge as a joystick with which he could control him. Wraith Syndicate During this time, with nobody to work with and no true occupations, they aimlessly roamed the Matoran Universe, often overpowering others to steal currency and food. When they somehow learned of the exiled Great Being Jayniss and the various powerful artifacts he carried with him, they grew desirous to have said artifacts for themselves. They eventually found themselves on Odina and were forced into labor to avoid being executed for having found the island by accident. They formed the Wraith Syndicate and hired several Dark Hunters, as a part of a deal which would allow them to escape the island, to track down Jayniss. The first Dark Hunter they hired, codenamed "Sunder", was tasked with stealing the powerful Staff of Vortices from Jayniss. Despite multiple failures to complete this mission—which surely proved to The Shadowed One that he deserved execution—he was kept alive for unknown reasons, possibly by the compensation-driven request by the Wraith Syndicate themselves. "Sunder" failed a total of 18 times before Maroona, the resident Toa of the island of Powai Nui which Jayniss had been chased to, used the Staff to transport him to an unknown location, rendering him so lost that even The Shadowed One failed to retrieve him. Around a century later, another Dark Hunter, codenamed "Alchemist", was tasked with not only capturing the Staff of Vortices but also with using it to transport the two of them to Powai Nui. With the help of Phi, one of Antharahk's experiments who was ordered to assist him, and Ruthos, a rogue Sapient model War Mongrel, "Alchemist" was successful, and Tetradon and Pretadix arrived in Le-Powai. Upon arrival, Tetradon met Ruthos, Antharahk's former War General who had decided to join them for the sake of his own survival. Ruthos recognized the same overbearing and controlling behavior he resented Antharahk for in Tetradon, and began to talk back to his new leader. Tetradon scolded him for this and considered ejecting him from the organization or simply executing him. Luckily for Ruthos, Tetradon eventually found a use for him, sending him to the nearest village in Le-Powai to act as a distraction while he and Pretadix traveled to the Kakkan Containment Organization's tunnel system to retrieve the Mask Maker's Tool. They were unsuccessful, however, as the recently-formed Toa Powai met them there. Not knowing of their immense inexperience, they retreated, percieving them to be a formidable threat. Tetradon and the rest of the Wraith Syndicate later confronted the Toa Powai in the town of Obodosara after learning that they were recently turned into Toa. He managed to take down the entire team on his own, envenomating Corduk, injuring Salvina, Wreshi, and Lewok, rendering Detras unconscious by pinching a pressure point and inducing hallucinations in Maroona. Tesudin, who had found his way onto Powai Nui and was now an ally of the Toa, impaled Tetradon in the chest with an arrow fired from Melisma. This wound would have been fatal had Pretadix not pulled the arrow out and used his Regeneration power to heal Tetradon. After insulting the Toa of Sonics and reminding him of Ringa's tragic death, Tetradon and the rest of the Wraith Syndicate returned to Le-Powai using the Staff of Vortices. Tetradon appeared to Detras in a vision via Pretadix's mental abilities, where he teased him about his history in the Foundry and attempted to convince him that his teammates would betray him. He later damaged Ruthos enough to shut him down after growing angry with him. Pretadix then suggested that Tetradon use the Powai Nuian population's growing fear of him to manipulate and enslave them, something which Tetradon refused to do due to his abstention from doing anything he believed would emulate Teridax's actions. This ultimately led to the two confessing the problems they had for one another and subsequently engaging in a fierce battle fueled by their anger. The battle ended when Pretadix managed to impale Tetradon with his own Xakar, likening it to the feeling of being under the mask's effects. Legacy While searching for the remaining members of the Wraith Syndicate, the Toa Powai came upon Tetradon's corpse and learned from Ruthos what had happened to him. One of the staffs of Qama Radúla was used by Detras as a weapon in a major battle against Pretadix (who would become known as Hysterix), whereas the other was confiscated by the KCO and contained. Tetradon's body was officially buried by the Powai Nuians in an unknown location. During the decades after his death, the adjective "Tetradonian" would arise in the Powai Nuian lexicon, defined as "scheming and deceitful, especially in an overbearing and oppressive way." Description Forms Powers and Equipment As a Falqãta, Tetradon was stronger and more durable than most Toa. Like others of his species, his orange blood was toxic to Matoran and related species, and he could eject small amounts of it from his spines to envenomate opponents. He had the ability to control various Elemental powers; whenever he used them, one of his eyes would change color, each corresponding to the side of his body from which the power was being emitted. The four Elements he was known to have manipulated were Ice, Magnetism, Acid, and Plasma. Tetradon wielded Qama Radúla, a pair of long-handled white and red weapons with spiny blades. Using his abilities, he could transfigure the weapon's blades into various forms in order to channel Elemental powers. He wore a Great Xakar, Mask of Hallucination, which allowed him to induce visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations in targets. His ability to use various Elemental powers made Tetradon incredibly versatile in combat. Using this to his advantage, he never went into a fight without using his mind as much as his abilities. He would often retreat temporarily just so that he could study his enemy and decide which powers and combat styles would counter them perfectly. He also had a knowledge of the various pressure points on a Matoran, Toa, or Turaga, which, when pinched, would render them unconscious. For unknown reasons, Tetradon was susceptible to occasional episodes of severe convulsions in his arms. While they rarely caused any injury, it was possible for them to occur during battle and put him at a massive disadvantage. Additionally, his physiology and heavy armor made him slower and less agile, although this was hardly a problem considering that he could often counter more agile opponents with his wide array of powers. Personality and Traits Tetradon was overbearing and domineering to those who worked under him. Those of his underlings who he did respect got only minimal praise and those he didn't respect were bound to be chastised by him constantly. He wanted order in everything around him, and did not want to live in a world he couldn't predict. Building on this, Tetradon made his plans slowly and methodically, often waiting for obstacles to his plans to come up before he was unable to adapt to combat them effectively. At other times, however, he may have sped up the rate at which his machinations unfolded if he felt that his moves had been predicted. He also taunted his enemies, especially during battle, and would use others' problems as levers to urge them under his command or make them more vulnerable in combat. Despite this, Tetradon was still keen on his personal morals and had limits to what he was willing to do. While leading the Syndicate, he refused to take any actions which he believed Teridax would have also taken. This was ultimately the cause of the strife between him and Pretadix that ended in their battle and his subsequent death. Appearances * Against the Storm - First appearance; Volumes ''II'', ''III'', ''IV'', ''V'', & ''VI'' Quotes Trivia * Tetradon is one of a few of Cap's characters who existed before The Feral Plains was written. In his form at that time, during which he was a Makuta, his anatomy resembled Hysterix and he wielded a large dual-ended sword. He also wore a Great Crast rather than a Xakar. Later, he was planned to either appear in or be mentioned in The Feral Plains. Since he wasn't, however, his character went under reconstruction and he was made into the main antagonist of Against the Storm. * His ability to envenomate others using his spines was inspired by his name's unintentional similarity to Tetraodon, a genus in the pufferfish family. Before this was decided, he was originally going to poison others by channeling Poison through Qama Radúla. * As with Drakah, Antharahk, and Hysterix, Tetradon alludes to one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as they are commonly depicted in pop culture. He represents Death, displayed by his vaguely skeletal appearance and the fact that he is the only one of the four who is deceased. Category:Wraith Syndicate Category:Brotherhood of Makuta